McNeil not expecting change after Quebec’s shipbuilding motion

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil isn’t sweating a motion by Quebec’s National Assembly asking for a bigger piece of the shipbuilding pie. After all, the feds signed a contract. (TED PRITCHARD / CP)

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said he fully expects and will require Ottawa to fulfil its obligations to the province under the national shipbuilding strategy.

On Wednesday, Quebec’s National Assembly passed a unanimous motion calling on the federal Liberals to to adjust Canada’s shipbuilding strategy so Quebec gets what it believes is its fair share of federal contracts.

Responding to the motion Thursday, McNeil said the federal government has already made a deal with Irving in Nova Scotia, and he is confident the shipbuilding strategy will continue on as planned.

“The assembly in a province unanimously wanting work to go to the province, that’s not unique to Quebec; every province would want that,” McNeil said. “The fact of the matter is, Irving won this contract fair and square through a competitive process and we fully expect the national government to respect that process.”

Following a tender process in 2011, Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax was named prime contractor for the $60-billion combat portion of the national shipbuilding strategy. The shipyard, which had to expand to accommodate the work, is currently building six Arctic and offshore patrol vessels, the first to be delivered in 2018, and up to 15 Canadian surface combatants to be built in the 2020s.

Seaspan on the West Coast was awarded the non-combat portion of the shipbuilding strategy and is building a number of science vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard as well as two joint support ships, the first to be delivered in 2020.

Chantier Davie Canada Inc., Quebec’s main shipbuilder, was in bankruptcy when the national shipbuilding strategy contracts were awarded to the other two yards, but the company is now back on its feet and stakeholders have not been quiet about their desire to get in on the action.

The company has made numerous unsolicited bids to the Liberal government attempting to take on some of the work already contracted to other yards, but those bids have been rejected.

Davie is, however, in the process of converting a commercial container ship into an interim auxiliary naval replenishment vessel for the Canadian navy under an initiative called Project Resolve. The vessel is expected to be delivered by the end of the year.

Davie’s bid to build the interim oiler was not solicited by Ottawa, but was accepted by the Conservative government in power at the time as a way to provide replenishment capabilities while Seaspan completes its support ships.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson from the Nova Scotia Business Department said the province is proud of its role in building Canada’s new fleet.

“The strategy presents tremendous economic opportunity for our province and includes over $600 million in contracts to companies in Nova Scotia,” the statement said.

“There continues to be significant reason to be optimistic about shipbuilding in Nova Scotia.”